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Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson

16 commentaries
5 videos & podcasts

Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland and former UN high commissioner for human rights, is Chair of The Elders and Chair of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Advisory Board.

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  1. Climate Justice
    Tutu15_revisted Getty Images

    Climate Justice

    Sep 12, 2022 Desmond Tutu & Mary Robinson lament the rich world's lack progress toward recognizing what it owes climate-vulnerable countries.

  2. Supplying the Green Transition Must Be Fast and Fair
    robinson17_PABLO COZZAGLIOAFP via Getty Images_bolivialithium Pablo Cozzaglio/AFP via Getty Images

    Supplying the Green Transition Must Be Fast and Fair

    May 12, 2022 Mary Robinson emphasizes that efforts to secure key inputs for clean-energy investments must respect human rights.

  3. How to Make the Pandemic History
    kimoon28_Mahmoud HjajAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_covax Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    How to Make the Pandemic History

    Feb 17, 2022 Ban Ki-moon, et al. call for upcoming high-level international meetings to be used to close the ACT-A funding gap.

  4. Climate Accountability Now
    robinson15_Brook MitchellGetty Images_climate justice Brook MitchellGetty Images

    Climate Accountability Now

    Feb 11, 2022 Mary Robinson considers the steps that will be needed to redress the shortcomings of COP26 in Glasgow.

  5. A Human-Rights Approach to Global Challenges
    robinson14_ Mahmoud HjajAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_covax Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    A Human-Rights Approach to Global Challenges

    Jul 13, 2021 Mary Robinson says that a roadmap already exists to help humanity overcome the pandemic and tackle climate change.

  1. deryugina1_BEN BIRCHALLPOOLAFP via Getty Images_ukraineflagsoldier Ben Birchall/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

    Ukraine Is Far From Doomed

    Tatyana Deryugina & Anastassia Fedyk

    When comparing Ukraine’s situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible. But it will require the West, and the US in particular, to put aside domestic political squabbles and muster the political will to provide Ukraine with consistent and robust military and financial assistance.

    compare Russia's full-scale invasion to World War II and see reason to hope – as long as aid keeps flowing.
  2. glennerster2_Scott OlsonGetty Images)_vaccines Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    The Pandemic Financing Developing Countries Need

    Rachel Glennerster urges multilateral development banks to establish mechanisms that enable at-risk vaccine purchases.
  3. krueger74_AFP via Getty Images_nigercoup AFP via Getty Images

    The Geopolitics of Africa’s Debt Crisis

    Anne O. Krueger urges developed countries to back efforts by the IMF and the World Bank to promote growth-enhancing reforms.
  4. palacio156_ Georg Moritzpicture alliance via Getty Images_immigation Georg Moritz/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Why the EU’s New Migration Pact Matters

    Ana Palacio applauds the pragmatic coalition-building, especially by Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, that enabled the deal.
  5. kirchschlager1_Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_AI Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images

    AI Needs UN Oversight

    Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for the creation of a watchdog – similar to the IAEA – that employs a human rights-based approach.
  6. chellaney_VCGVCG via Getty Images_china military VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline

    Brahma Chellaney argues that the unprecedented US and European sanctions against Russia are backfiring.
  7. zizek29_Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images_palestine congress germany Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images

    Canceling Palestine

    Slavoj Žižek

    Current debates about Israeli policy are rife with double standards, leading to absurd decisions like Germany’s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestinian gathering. By quashing legitimate speech and assembly, an Israel-aligned establishment risks inciting precisely the kind of anti-Semitism that it wants to prevent.

    worries that the double standards applied on Israel’s behalf will lead to an anti-Semitic backlash.
  8. ackerman2_Brian van der Brug  Los Angeles Times via Getty Images_preschool Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

    America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age

    Bruce Ackerman urges US President Joe Biden to put universal preschool at the center of his re-election campaign.
  9. acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.

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